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The Living Animals of the World 



THE EUROPEAN MOUFFLON. 



The only wild sheep of Europe is the MOUFFLON, found in the mountains of Corsica and 

 Sardinia. Its height at the shoulder is about 27 inches. In the rams the horns are strong, 

 and curved into a spiral, forming almost a complete circle. The hair is close, and in winter 

 has a woolly under-fur. In summer and autumn the coat is a bright red-brown on the neck, 

 shoulders, and legs ; the rump and under-parts are whitish, and the back and flanks marked with 

 a white saddle. In winter the brown becomes darker and the white saddle broader. A rather 

 larger moufflon is found on Mount Elburz in Persia, in Armenia, and in the Taurus Mountains. 

 A smaller variety exists in Cyprus, where it has been preserved since the British occupation. 

 The moufflon is a typical wild sheep. In Sardinia and Corsica are dense scrubby forests of 

 tall heather, some 5 feet high. This maquia is practically impenetrable to hunters. When 

 alarmed, the moufflon dash into it, and are safe. The maquia has preserved two very interesting 

 survivals of antiquity the moufflon, and the Corsican or Sardinian bandit. The Corsican bandit, 

 like the moufflon of the same island, 

 is nearly extinct. In Sardinia both 

 flourish. Many English sportsmen 

 have had their first taste of big-game 

 shooting in the difficult pursuit of 

 the moufflon on the Sardinian 

 mountains. Some declare that the 

 sport is so fascinating that they have 

 seldom found much to equal it since. 

 Mr. S. H. Whitbread, whose notes' in 

 " The Encyclopedia of Sport " are 

 very full on this subject, deems that 

 the best season to stalk moufflon is 

 in October or November. The animals 

 are then less disturbed by shepherds 

 and dogs, and the moufflon are on 

 the move and more easily seen during 

 the day than in summer, when they 

 feed at night and rest or sleep by day. 



Sir E. Gr. Loder has a small herd 

 of moufflon running wild in his park 

 at Leonardslee, near Horsham. They one of the large wild sheep of Central Asia. 



have a specially built " mountain-top " 



of stone to make a home of, but are free to feed where they like in the park. They produce 

 lambs yearly. It is an interesting sight to see the quick rush of the little flock, when 

 frightened, to their sheltering-place, led by an old white-saddled ram. 



THE ARGALIS. 



The ARGALIS are the largest of all living wild sheep. Some measure from 3 feet 9 inches 

 to 4 feet at the shoulder. The horns are broad, corrugated, and curling in the male, and 

 in the female short, erect, and curving backwards. The male TIBETAN ARGALI has a ruff on 

 the throat. The usual colour is a stony grey, mingled with white in the summer in the case 

 of the old males. The name is applied collectively to several wild sheep found in Northern 

 and Central Asia. Whether these are only varieties or separate species it is difficult to say; 

 but the following are some of the most marked forms. 



The SIBERIAN ARGALI is the characteristic wild sheep of the rocky hills and mountains of 

 Southern Siberia, the Altai Mountains, and Northern Mongolia. The horns curve so as to form 

 more than a complete circle; the upper parts are tinged with grey, and the lower are white. 



Photo by W. P. Dando] 



[Regent's Park. 



SIBERIAN ARGALI. 



